please help me on this fish thing guys! i really need it!?

Question

ok first of all do you think regal tangs(like dory) and clownfish(like nemo) will get along if u put them together in a tank? Because the clownfish is way small will it get eaten by the regal tang? and also i saw this little fish that was half purple and half yellow about half an inch long. does anyone know what that is called? and also does anyone know what a very small fish is called that is red white and blue? (i saw them at the pet store, but some didnt have names on the tanks.) thats what color they looked anyone. and are all tanks REALLY expensive? also do all tanks need filtration and pumps and all that jazz because that seems like alot of work for just a couple of fish. does anyone know if the fish listed above will get along? or will the fight or eat each other? anyone know any small fish that get along(different species) and that coluld be kept together in a small tank?

Answer 1

The tang won't have much interest in eating a clownfish - they're herbivores, so "dory" would rather eat algae, not her "fish friends". They would probably get along in a tank, if the tank was large enough for the tang as an adult (they get a foot and are very active swimmers so should have at least a 75 gallon tank): http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/FishSpecies.asp?FishSubCategoryID=635&FishType=

Clowns vary in size from 2.5 inches to 6 inches:http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/FishSubCategory.asp?FishCategoryID=8

The half yellow/half purple fish is a royal gramma or bicolor pseudochromis: http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/FishSpecies.asp?FishSubCategoryID=953&FishType=
The red, white, and blue might be a Catalina goby: http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/FishSpecies.asp?FishSubCategoryID=411&FishType= or red striped goby: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1728

Some that I would recommend for a smaller (20 gallon) tank would be some of the smaller clowns (ocellaris, percula), green chromis damsels, cardinalfish, clown gobies, long nose hawkfish, firefish, or canary blenny. All these together would be too many, but you could probably keep three or so depending on the amount of filtration and decorations. And you do need the filter, heater, etc. Most saltwater fish also like rocks for hiding places.

I'll put some additional websites for you below:
http://www.apapets.com/MarineEcosystem/whatto.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterBeginners.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/

Answer 2

That's a lot of questions, some of which honestly are fairly basic aquarium keeping questions. I'll touch on as many as possible and also strongly encourage you to pick up a basic book on saltwater aquariums. That will answer all of your questions in reasonable detail plus many, many other questions you haven't even thought of yet.

Tangs require a quite large aquarium to be comfortable. In theory they can go together, but it's often not the best match of tank mates.

The hlaf purple and half yellow fish you saw is a Royal Gramma. http://www.reefcorner.com/images/RoyalGrammaCloseup3.jpg

I'm not familiar with the other fish you saw at the shop.

Yes, ANY saltwater tank and most any freshwater tank will need a filter, heater and such equipment.

As for fish that can get along together, it depends on if you mean freshwater or saltwater and how large of a tank you intend to have. Give those details and we'll be glad to make some recommendations.

Hope that helps some.

MM